”Cutting to the chase” : An analysis of suspenseful editing

Looking at the films made by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, and the fundamental elements of editing and Soviet montage theory, this essay investigates how the technical aspect of editing can enhance the sense of suspense in motion pictures. These theories are applied in an analysis of Walter Hill’s neo-noir film The Driver (1978), in order to clarify and further discuss how editing is used to affect the viewer.